


Pets and Princes

by mfingenius



Series: Commissions [11]
Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: Alternate Universe, Auguste (Captive Prince) Lives, Don't copy to another site, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:00:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25214302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mfingenius/pseuds/mfingenius
Summary: Damen knows about pets, of course he does; he’s been visiting Vere since he was twelve, for diplomatic visits and because he’s friends with Crown Prince Auguste, so, theoretically, he knows all about pets. He’s never properly seen them, because the first time Theomedes had visited Vere after the peace treaty and seen pets, Damen is told he’d been scandalized, and, since then, whenever the Akielons visit, Veretian pets dress like their masters rather than like pets.So it’s not his fault, you see? Not entirely, at least.It’s not his fault he didn’t know Auguste had a brother.
Relationships: Auguste & Damen (Captive Prince), Auguste & Laurent (Captive Prince), Damen & Nikandros (Captive Prince)
Series: Commissions [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1593178
Comments: 75
Kudos: 182





	1. Chapter 1

Damen knows about pets, of course he does; he’s been visiting Vere since he was twelve, for diplomatic visits and because he’s friends with Crown Prince Auguste, so, theoretically, he knows all about pets. He’s never properly _seen_ them, because the first time Theomedes had visited Vere after the peace treaty and seen pets, Damen is told he’d been scandalized, and, since then, whenever the Akielons visit, Veretian pets dress like their masters rather than like pets.

So it’s not his fault, you see? Not entirely, at least.

It’s not his fault he didn’t know Auguste had a brother.

It’s not his fault that Laurent is the most breath-taking person Damen has seen in his life, and he’s dressed exactly like Auguste, and obviously Vere’s Crown Prince has the most gorgeous pet of all. It makes sense.

“Prince Damianos,” Laurent, as he has introduced himself, says, as he bows lightly. Much more shallow than other pets have, but Damen assumes being Auguste’s pet comes with certain privileges. “Pleased to meet you.”

“I’m pleased to meet you, too,” Damen says deeply, looking Laurent up and down, a flush rising on his face before he looks away; that’s probably not appropriate, and he isn’t normally like this, it’s just - Damen has never seen _anyone_ as attractive as Laurent, and he gets the most gorgeous of Akielon slaves, blonde and fair and exactly to his tastes.

And maybe, maybe if he had spent more time with Laurent and someone had called him _‘your highness_ ’ or _‘your majesty’_ maybe Damen would’ve caught on and avoided _the incident_ , as he likes to call it, but, as it is, Auguste arrives in that moment and grabs Laurent’s arm, which is only further proof that Laurent is a pet. Courtiers don’t touch each other; Nikandros had warned him, before coming, that in Vere one only touched their pets or their family, and Auguste didn’t have any family that wasn’t his parents, Damen thought.

“Laurent, I need to talk to you,” Auguste says, and that’s another thing. _No one_ addresses each other as informally here. Damen hasn’t heard Auguste address someone without a direct title. “Damen, we’ll be right back.”

Damen makes some sort of noise of agreement - or so he thinks, he’s not really sure - and then promptly gets distracted by watching the pet walk away.

*

“I didn’t know pets were allowed here,” Damen says to Auguste, surprised. Laurent, the blonde pet from before, is sitting beside Auguste, deeply immersed in a conversation with Nik about Delpha - and Damen didn’t know, either, that pets were so well-informed, but then again, it must be only Auguste’s pet - while they’re waiting for King Aleron and Queen Hennike. Though Damen is still not king, his father wants to retire to an Island soon, so this is his first visit to Vere alone.

“Pets?” Auguste asks, frowning. “They’re not.”

“But-” Damen doesn’t get the chance to finish his sentence, because King Aleron and Queen Hennike enter. 

“Rise,” Councillor Herode says, and they all do.

*

Auguste’s pet is _very_ well-read. Damen hasn’t had much chance of getting to know him better - it seems he’s a busy person, and Damen briefly wonders if Auguste gets him to flirt with people to get information, before telling himself Auguste wouldn’t do that - but in the few chances he’s had, he’s either always carrying a book or talking about one.

More than well-read, he’s informed about _everything_ about Akielos, and Vere, and Patras, and if Damen didn’t know any better, he’d guess Laurent was a prince instead of a pet.

He sees Laurent negotiating with Nikandros about cloth tariffs, and briefly wonders if Auguste knows what his pet is up to; he must, right? No one seems to stop him, after all, not even the King and Queen. 

What makes things worse, however, is that Laurent is _flirting_ with him, Damen is almost entirely sure. He doesn’t want anything with Laurent! Or, more accurately, he very much _does_ want something with Laurent, but doesn’t want to risk Auguste getting angry at him over it. 

So he mostly ignores Laurent’s advances.

*

“Nikandros,” Damen says one day. “What do you know about Laurent?”

“ _Laurent_?” Nikandros wrinkles his nose. “Prince Auguste’s-”

“Yes,” Damen nods. He doesn’t want a reminder that Laurent is Auguste’s pet, thank you very much. Though he knows pet’s contracts can be bought out, he doesn’t think buying Laurent’s contract will be a good way to start their renewed peace treaty - the reason he’s here - and anyway, he doesn’t think he wants Laurent as just a _pet_. He seems terribly over-prepared for that.

“Well, he’s a pain in the ass,” Nikandros says. Then, grudgingly. “But he’s very clever.”

“He is, isn’t he?” Damen could offer him much more than being a pet. Damen could make him a royal advisor, or an ambassador; though that would mean Damen would rarely get to see him, so maybe not an ambassador. Damen’s trusted advisor seems better.

“Oh no,” Nikandros says, interrupting Damen’s train of thought. “ _No_.”

“What?”

“I know that face,” Nikandros says, glaring. “Do _not_ try anything with him. He’s Prince Auguste’s-”

“I know.” Damen sighs. 

“He won’t like that.” Nikandros presses.

“I _know_ ,” Damen says, rolling his eyes. Of course Auguste won’t like Damen trying anything with his pet, Nikandros doesn’t need to tell him that. He sighs again. “I know. I was just - _curious_.”

“Well, stop it,” Nikandros says. “We can _not_ mess this up.”

Damen sighs for a third time and nods.

*

_The incident_ happens on an otherwise perfectly pleasant day; he gets to spend time with Laurent, telling him about Ios and the sea and Laurent says he’d love to visit, long eyelashes fluttering, and Damen _knows_ he’s flirting, and it kills him not to respond.

Still, he doesn’t; he grits his teeth and bears through it even if Laurent is the most perfect person Damen has - and will ever, he’s beginning to think - ever met. 

They part ways just before an important meeting, because Auguste comes get Damen; he wants to talk about the peace treaty and how it could very easily fall through if something were to _happen_.

He gives Damen a meaningful look while he says it, and Damen is sure it’s about Laurent, so he purses his lips and nods; Auguste smiles and claps him on the back, cheery as always, and Damen feels his heart sink.

Auguste has noticed, then.

They go to the meeting - about making appropriate changes in the peace treaty, which is important because when it was first written up both countries were reluctant, which means it has a lot of loopholes - and it’s the first meeting Laurent isn’t in.

It makes sense, since it’s the most important meeting yet.

All is going well, until, a couple of minutes late, Laurent arrives; the only free seat is next to Damen, and he takes it without apologizing for his tardiness, which is pretty arrogant for a pet, even Auguste’s.

“Are you alright, Prince Damianos?” Laurent asks with a frown; Damen hasn’t been able to convince him to call him Damen, yet. He must notice the evident tension in Damen’s shoulders.

“Yes,” Damen says shortly. Auguste is talking to Nikandros and Makedon about the border in Delpha and the male Vaskian tribes, which seem to have been giving more trouble than usual lately, so he’s distracted. “But we cannot keep being - _friends_.”

Laurent looks surprised, and then a little hurt, before his face turns cool, indifferent. “And may I ask why?”

Damen, Akielon to the core and more sincere than even his father is, says, “Because I am beginning to have feelings for you and you’re Auguste’s, and I cannot risk peace in my country for now.”

“ _Auguste’s_?” Laurent looks confused again.

“Auguste’s pet.”

The entire meeting seems to screech to a halt as everyone turns to look at him; color begins rising steadily in Laurent’s face, light at first and then deepening quickly until his cheeks are crimson.

“Excuse me?”

The guards have turned very white, and so has Nikandros. His eyes are very wide.

The members of the council all look horrified except for Guion, who seems somewhere between amused and mildly interested.

Was Damen not allowed to say that out loud?

“Damen.” Nikandros looks like he wants to _murder_ him. 

King Aleron is looking at him calculatingly, and Queen Hennike has the back of her hand pressed against her mouth; Damen thinks she might be trying not to laugh, but she might also be trying not to yell.

“ _You_ said-” Damen begins, and Nikandros interrupts him.

“ _Damen_.”

Laurent is turning even redder, if it’s possible, and his guard, a man named Lazar - only one guard, when the rest of the royals carry at least six with them - looks like he cannot believe what he’s hearing.

“Not to try anything, because Laurent was Auguste’s-”

“ _Damen_.” Nikandros is turning very red, too.

Auguste clears his throat. “Brother.”

Damen turns to look at him disbelievingly, and Auguste cocks an eyebrow at him; where Laurent is flushing crimson, Auguste is not. He looks at him cooly.

“Laurent is my _brother,_ ” Auguste says.

It takes two seconds for it to sink in.

The silence is deafening. 

“ _What_?” Damen asks.

“Laurent is my brother,” Auguste repeats. “ _Prince_ Laurent is my younger brother.”

_Oh gods._ Damen feels his cheeks begin to burn.

“You thought I was a _pet_?” Laurent asks, and Damen can’t _look at him,_ he just can’t.

“Nikandros said-” Damen begins, and everyone turns to Nik, who turns even redder.

“You never let me finish!” he defends hotly. “You only ever let me get to _Prince Auguste’s!”_

Damen wants to _die_.

“But-” he begins, voice higher than usual. He turns to Auguste desperately. “You _threatened_ me!”

“Because everyone knows you like to bed blondes!” Auguste says, shaking his head. “I didn’t want you to-”

“You _threatened_ him?” Laurent asks. “Auguste, I’m not a child!”

“You’re my brother, I didn’t want you to get hurt-”

“But-” Damen splutters, still in shock. “You were flirting with me!”

Laurent turns even redder as everyone rounds on him, seemingly greatly interested.

His flush has to be painful by this point.

“I - how is that relevant - I never - that doesn’t mean I’m a _pet!”_ Laurent says. His ears are by now turning red, too.

“You were _flirting_ with him?” Auguste asks, disbelievingly. “You’ve never shown interest in _anyone-_ ”

“Oh, Auguste, leave your brother alone.” Queen Hennike seems to think this is her moment to intervene. She looks terribly amuse with the whole situation. “It was bound to happen some day, and Damianos’s build is not easily found here, Laurent might just have a type-”

“Oh gods, _stop_ -” Laurent buries his face in his hands, flush glowing between his fingers.

“Yes, please, _everyone_ stop.” King Aleron says.

Everyone looks at him, and waits anxiously. Auguste is still muttering about how he’s offended Laurent didn’t tell him he was interested in anyone, Laurent is flushing brightly and kicking him under the table, Nikandros looks like he’s considering treason, and Damen? Well, Damen wants to flee.

Right after he finds out if this means he can ask Laurent out.

“Prince Damianos, if Laurent does not wish it we will not take this as a National offense,” Aleron says. Everyone looks at Laurent, who shakes his head quickly, mortified. “Very well. Laurent, you’re excused-”

“ _I_ have to leave?” Laurent asks. “He mistook me for a pet!”

“I’m very, deeply sorry, Prince Laurent, I am so, so-” Damen begins, but he’s interrupted.

“Prince Damianos, you’re also excused. Everyone here is excused. We will meet again tomorrow, because this is just - a mess.”

Everyone begins walking out of the room, speaking quickly, and Damen has no doubts that this will be across the castle - and possibly across the border - before he makes it back to Ios.

Kastor is never going to let him live it down.

“Prince Laurent,” Damen says urgently, before he walks out. Nikandros looks like he wants to throttle him, but Damen is good at ignoring that expression. “I want to apologize - I really am very sorry, I never meant to offend you-”

“Of course not,” Prince Laurent says, conflicted. “No, you just said I’m a pet. _Auguste’s_ pet.”

Damen turns very red. “I am so, so, so sorry-”

“That’s enough apologies, Prince Damianos,” Prince Laurent says. “I - well, I’ll see you around, I suppose.”

“Yeah,” Damen says faintly. “I’ll see you around.”

He leaves the room with Auguste - who throws Damen a _look_ \- and Damen stays behind with Nikandros.

“Damen, I could _kill_ you right now,” Nik says.

Damen really couldn’t blame him if he did.


	2. Chapter 2

Auguste is possibly the only one of the Veretians who feels a little sorry for him; everyone is talking about what happened at the meeting, and Damen largely suspects that it might have already reached Kastor. He doesn’t want to think about what’ll happen when he returns.

The King and Queen seem to not quite know what to do with him, Nikandros is furious, Prince Laurent won’t even look at Damen, and Lazar – Laurent's guard – grins every time he sees him. The Veretian pets also seem to know what has happened, because one of them comes up to him and, quite insolently, says:

“ _ Pet _ .” Pointing at the earring on his lobe. Then points at Laurent. “ _ Not pet.” _

Damen thanks him for the clarification, but wishes someone had given it a lot sooner.

Auguste had been mad at him too, at first, but after a particular – impossibly uncomfortable – diplomatic dinner in which Damen continuously tries to speak to Laurent – and makes a fool of himself every single time – he gets a lot more sympathetic.

“Damen.” Auguste grimaces, after Damen somehow manages to make Laurent go red by calling him virginal. Damen really,  _ really _ doesn’t know what’s happening to him; he knows Veretian perfectly and he’s never this much of an idiot with words. He’s not  _ Laurent _ , admittedly, whose words always seem to have three different meanings, but he’s not a helpless teenager trying to woo someone for the first time either. “I am  _ begging _ you to stop.”

Damen groans, burying his face in his hands. “I’m trying to –  _ apologize,  _ or fix this-”

“You’re making it worse,” Auguste observes and Damen glares weakly at him. “Did you not notice?”

“Of course I noticed!” Damen says hotly. So has everyone else, it seems, because if Laurent and Damen even come close, everyone stares at the scene with great interest, waiting to see how Damen might make things worse. “I’m just – I don’t know why I'm like this, I’m not trying to – anything I say somehow sounds like an insult, and I can never seem to say what I mean and if I somehow  _ do _ he turns it into something else-”

Auguste grimaces again, this time sympathetic. “Yeah, that sounds like conversation attempts with Laurent.” They both look at the Prince, attempting to stay out of sight in a corner of the room, talking to Lazar, who’s grinning. “Look, when you get used to it, it’s easier. I suppose. He's never actually done it to me, but, well, I've never called him a pet.”

Damen glares at him again, and Auguste grins, slapping him on the back.

“It’ll get better,” he says. “Stop apologizing every two minutes. Stop talking to him at public events; he hates them. Give him sweets, or better yet, take him riding. Try not to call him a pet again.”

Damen blinks. “You’re - helping me?”

Auguste shrugs. “We’re friends, and Laurent has never been interested in  _ anyone,  _ and I think you might be – acceptable.” Damen frowns at him, and Auguste amends. “ _ And _ he’s still angry at me for threatening you, so I think this might help me atone.”

“So you’re using me,” Damen says, unimpressed.

Auguste rolls his eyes. “Do you want my help or not?”

Damen desperately does.

*

Damen keeps his distance for a few days so that he won’t overwhelm Laurent. He thinks Laurent might need a chance to forget about Damen’s accidental insults before he can try to fix it again. And it gives him time to make a plan.

A Nikandros-and-Auguste approved plan.

Or something like that, because Nikandros votes for the  _ ‘Damen-never-open-your-mouth-again-around-him-and-let's-go-back-to-Ios _ ' plan, but Damen is  _ obviously _ not going to do that, and Nikandros knows him well enough to know that, too.

“Prince Damianos.” Laurent sighs when Damen enters the library. “I’ve told you you’ve apologized enough times-”

“I’m not here to apologize,” Damen says boldly, sticking strictly to the script he and Auguste have practiced many times. “I’m here for a book.”

“A book,” Laurent repeats skeptically.

Auguste really did know what Laurent would say.

“Yes, your highness,” Damen says. “I read.”

“Do you.” Auguste has Laurent’s dry, unimpressed tone down to a science, even if it looks odd on him, which is why Damen is ready for both the tone and the words. “I wasn’t sure you could, considering nearly every document you signed already had ‘ _ Prince Laurent of Vere’ _ on it.”

Damen’s cheeks warm. “Yes, well.”

Laurent cocks an eyebrow, and Damen doesn’t continue.  _ Stick to the fucking script _ , Nikandros had said, when he’d accepted that Damen was going to talk to Laurent, whether or not he wanted him to. 

The script didn’t have an answer to possibly justify his actions.

“What book can you recommend?” he asks, because that  _ is  _ part of the script. “I do not know much of Veretian literature.”

Laurent looks at him for a moment longer, before he shrugs and stands; for a moment, Damen is convinced he’s going to leave, and he’s scrambling for something to say, but he doesn’t; instead, Laurent stands on his tiptoes to reach an old, worn tome, with fading golden letters.

“Here.” He shoves it into Damen’s hands.

_ Classic Veretian Fairytales _

Damen looks up at Laurent, surprised; he’s flushing lightly.

“Well?” he asks. “You can leave now.”

Damen does.

*

“Oh, this is good!” Auguste says. “It’s Laurent’s favorite. If he’s willing to give it to you to read he still at least likes you a little bit!”

“Just to be clear, Prince Auguste,” Nikandros says, arching an eyebrow. “Your brother is angry at you for meddling, so you’re meddling  _ more _ .”

Auguste hums. “I like to think of it as un-meddling what I meddled in.”

“It’s not,” Nikandros says.

Damen kicks him in the shin to get him to shut up; experience largely suggests he can’t talk to Laurent without Auguste’s help, so he can’t have him backing out now.

“What do I do now?” he asks. “I want him to forgive me, and I want to ask him out.”

“Okay,” Auguste says, sitting on Damen’s bed with a frown. “You’ve already tried practically groveling at his feet.” Damen tries to protest, but Nikandros snickers and nods. “And begging for forgiveness, so let’s not try that again; it’s unbecoming.”

“What has he liked in men before?” Damen asks, with a not-entirely-small spark of jealousy in his chest. “That I could implement?”

Auguste’s frown deepens. “Nothing.”

“Nothing,” Damen repeats skeptically. 

Nikandros, who’s there mostly to make sure Damen doesn’t cause another national incident, real this time, makes a face. “He must’ve liked  _ someone _ . He’s of age. Has he never taken a pet? Or a slave?”

Auguste grimaces. “There are no slaves here, and don’t bring  _ that _ up. Laurent hates slavery. As for pets, no. The Council has been trying to force him for months, but Laurent avoids it at every turn.”

“Maybe Queen Hennike is right,” Nikandros says. “And he has a type.”

He and Auguste look at Damen thoughtfully; Damen, never one to be self-conscious but feeling slightly unsure of himself, tries to smile.

“Unbelievably unobservant giants?” Auguste suggests. “Is that a type?”

“I am not unbelievably unobservant,” Damen argues. He cannot really argue against the ‘giant’ part.

“You thought he was my  _ pet _ .”

“Are we still bringing that up?” Damen groans. “I thought we were over it.”

“We will never be over it,” Nikandros says seriously, and Damen groans again.

“Oh!” Auguste says. “I have a plan!”

*

“Riding,” Laurent repeats skeptically, looking at Damen up and down. “You enjoy riding?”

Not particularly; Damen loves his stallion, which has gotten him through many battles and even more journeys, but he doesn’t generally ride for the sake of riding. Laurent, however, seems to spend most of his time either in the library or on his horse, so Damen will do this.

“I’m certain I would enjoy it with you,” Damen says; from behind Laurent, hiding behind a bush, Auguste frantically shakes his head and Nikandros smacks his hand against his forehead. “I mean, yes. I enjoy it.”

Laurent looks at him critically. “What did you think of the book I gave you?”

He brushes his mare’s hair as he says it, seemingly uninterested, but Damen feels like there’s definitely a wrong answer.

“It was certainly interesting.” Laurent rolls his eyes, and Damen continues. “I had never realized Veretian fairytales were so different from Akielon ones.”

“How so?”

“Veretian fairytales are quite cold, in comparison.” Both Nikandros and Auguste gape at him. Then, Auguste throws his hands up in defeat, glaring at him venomously.

“Cold,” Laurent repeats; he has stopped in the middle of brushing his mare.

“Yes,” Damen says, pushing forward despite the pounding in his chest. He doesn’t know what drove him to stray from the script, but it’s too late to make up for it now. “Akielon fairytales are more romantic.”

Laurent narrows his eyes at him, and then swings up onto his horse; for a moment, Damen’s stomach sinks.

“Well?” Laurent arches his eyebrows at him. “Come on. You can tell me all about whatever it is you Akielons call  _ romance _ . You’ll be wrong, but I’m willing to listen.”

“I-” Damen swallows. “Okay.”

*

“ _ Why _ did you abandon the script?” is the first thing Nikandros asks the moment Damen walks through his bedroom doors, grinning like an idiot.

“It worked, didn’t it? He let me go riding with him.”

“What happened?” Auguste asks with great interest, lying on Damen’s bed. “Is he still mad at me?”

“We didn’t talk about you,” Damen says.

Auguste looks insulted. “What did you talk about, then? You have nothing in common!”

“Akielon fairytales.” Damen shrugs. “Horses. He told me about the apricot trees near the border.” He grins goofily. “Oh, and he invited me to his rooms later.”

“What?” Auguste asks, straightening abruptly. “ _ Laurent _ ?”

“Yes.”

“My  _ brother _ ?” 

“Yes.”

“Oh, it’s happening!” he cries in relief.

“What?” Nik asks.

“Well, I assume he’s intending to bed you,” Auguste says, standing from Damen’s bed and rambling. “And he’s never wanted to do that with anyone before, and I was beginning to worry-”

“Damen’s not going to bed him!” Nik says.

When Damen doesn’t say anything, both he and Auguste turn to him expectantly.

“Damen!” Nikandros exclaims. “This is a terrible idea! You cannot  _ bed _ Prince Laurent!”

“I’m not trying to!” Damen defends. Nik looks relieved, before Damen continues. “I wish to court him.”

“Wait,  _ what _ ?” Auguste asks. “ _ Court him _ ? As in,  _ real  _ courtship? To wed?”

“Yes,” Damen says, confused. “Is that a problem?”

“Yes!” Auguste exclaims. “You can’t take Laurent away to Ios!”

“I thought you were okay with this!” Damen says.

“I thought you wanted to take him out on a few dates, I didn’t think you’d - not  _ courtship _ !”

Everyone in the room is silent.

“Okay,” Nik says, slowly. “Maybe we should take a moment to – cool off. All of us.”

“Of course,” Auguste says, glaring tightly at Damen. “A moment.”

He storms out of the room.

“Well, shit,” Nik drawls. “Who  _ ever _ could’ve predicted this would go wrong?”

Damen glares at him.

*

“Has something happened between you and my brother?” Laurent asks, with great interest, when Damen arrives to his rooms.

“What?” Damen asks.

“He was here before,” Laurent says nonchalantly, leaning against the pillar of his bedframe.

“What did he say?” Damen asks, mouth dry; he doesn’t think Auguste will have told Laurent about their plan – he thinks Laurent wouldn’t be talking to him now if he knew – but he knows Auguste’s opinion carries a lot of weight with Laurent; he’s seen it in the way they treat each other, heard it when Laurent talks about his brother. If Auguste truly didn’t like him, he doesn’t think he’d have a chance with Laurent.

“Nothing.” Laurent shrugs. Then, “He reminded me you keep slaves.”

Damen swallows.  _ Don’t bring that up, Laurent hates slavery. _

He wants to smack his friend.

“You don’t sound surprised,” he says.

“I knew before he told me,” Laurent says; he’s looking at him in a way Damen can’t quite discern. “Akielos is a neighboring country, I know all about it; Auguste wanted me to be his ambassador.”

“Oh?”

“Not anymore.” Laurent studies Damen. “He wants me to negotiate with Patras instead.”

_ Patras _ ? Patras isn’t half as gorgeous as Akielos; in Ios, Damen could show Laurent the city, the palace, the sea; he could take Laurent riding and make sure his skin won’t burn. Laurent could wear a chiton.

“Akielos is better,” Damen says.

Laurent snorts. “Of course you think so.” He pushes himself off the pillar and pours himself a glass of water from the tray on the table at the corner of the room, offering another one to Damen. “Why is he mad at you, then? Auguste.”

Damen says, “I told him I wanted to court you.”

Laurent freezes with his glass halfway to his mouth.

He stares at Damen, who continues because he’s beginning to panic, thinking he’s said the wrong thing. “Of course, if you say no, I would not pursue the matter further, it’s - before, we were getting close, and I thought we could never develop a relationship because if I bought out your contract from Auguste I might risk war, and now - I don’t want to mess up again. If you say no, I’ll leave you alone.”

Laurent stares for a moment longer. “I'm not saying no.”

The corner of Damen’s mouth twitches upwards. “Is that a yes, then?”

Laurent’s cheeks are turning pink. “Yes.”

Damen grins.

*

Things with Auguste are  _ tense _ . Of course, either Damen or Laurent can break off the courtship at any time, and this early on it’s impossible to say where it will go. Damen tries to tell him that, tries to make him see that even if everything goes well and Laurent comes to Ios with him, that will still be far off; Veretian courtship has fourteen stages, and though every couple can get through it as fast or slow as they want to, it won’t take less than a year.

It doesn’t comfort Auguste at all.

Still, he doesn’t intervene. His and Damen’s friendship is strained at the moment, but he’s civil and doesn’t say a word of it to Laurent, for which Damen is grateful; of course, he knows Laurent has noticed something’s going on between him and Auguste, but he hasn’t mentioned it, so Damen hasn’t offered an explanation.

“So,  _ Damen. _ ” Auguste stabs a piece of meat with his fork pointedly. Shouldn’t you have gone back to Ios by now?”

“Auguste!” Queen Hennike exclaims; she and the king are overjoyed by the announcement of Laurent’s and Damen’s courtship. Laurent had told Damen that it was because King Aleron had always considered him ‘too difficult to marry off’, and though Damen hopes he’s wrong, he cannot say that he is. 

“What?” Auguste asks, blinking innocently. “He’s a Crown Prince. He has a country to take care of.”

“I do,” Damen agrees, a little hurt by his friend’s eagerness to get rid of him. “And I’m leaving in two days.”

“Two days?” Laurent turns to him, surprised. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

Damen hesitates before he focuses his gaze on Laurent; he’d really meant for this to be more private. “I - wanted to ask if you’d consider coming with me.” Auguste’s head snaps towards him, and his eyes narrow. Damen continues hesitantly. “For a few weeks. I could show you Ios, and the ocean, and-”

“Laurent doesn’t like the ocean,” Auguste interrupts, glaring at him.

“No,” Laurent says, slowly. “I’ve never seen it. I can’t know whether or not I like it.”

“You’ve never seen the ocean?” Damen is baffled; he can’t imagine having spent no time in the water that way, the waves crashing around, the near-white sand beneath his feet; it’s as close to heaven as Damen thinks it can get.

“No, and he doesn’t need to,” Auguste says defensively. “Because he’s staying here.  _ Right _ , Laurent?”

“Auguste, you can’t make this choice for your brother,” queen Hennike says gently.

“He’s going,” Aleron says, looking at his son through narrowed eyes. 

“You can’t make this choice for your son, either,” Hennike says with more force.

“Laurent wants to stay here-” Auguste begins, glaring at his father, and Damen leans back; he sort of wishes he were back in Ios already.

“Laurent wants to go-”

“ _ Or _ ,” Laurent says, icily. “Laurent wants to make this choice for himself.” Both Auguste and Aleron turn to look at him. “And I want privacy while I do it.”

He pushes his chair back with a loud scrape and leaves the room. 

“Lau-” Auguste’s face has turned guilty, and he stands up after his brother, but the door slams. 

Damen hesitates; should he follow?

“Don’t worry, honey,” Queen Hennike says, patting the back of his hand. “He’s not mad at  _ you _ .”

She glowers at her husband and son, both of whom look down at their plates.

*

When Damen opens his door to find Auguste standing in front of him, he’s more than a little surprised. He’s been avoiding Damen at all costs lately, so Damen hardly expected him to seek him out.

“Auguste,” he says awkwardly. “Come in.”

Laurent is sitting on Damen’s bed, cross-legged, and when he sees his brother his eyes narrow. Auguste smiles sheepishly. 

“Hey, Laurent,” he says.

Laurent raises an eyebrow. “Still plotting my life out for me, brother?”

“I told him about – well, everything,” Damen admits guiltily. “The planning, and the meetings, and – all of it. I’m sorry.”

He’d honestly taken it better than Damen expected; he’d seemed –  _ amused,  _ almost, and Damen had been greatly relieved; he hadn’t wanted Laurent to find out in some other way and then hate him, but Laurent hadn’t seemed very surprised at Damen’s confession, so he thinks he might’ve already known.

Auguste sighs and turns to Damen.

“It’s fine,” he says. “I’m here to... apologize.”

Damen shakes his head. “No, I - I'm sorry, I shouldn’t have surprised you like that-”

“It’s Laurent’s choice if he goes or not, and I have no business trying to control what he does-”

“He’s your brother, I know you’re going to miss him-”

“I will, but I know you make him happy, and you really like him, and-”

“I’m right here,” Laurent interrupts, looking disbelievingly at them; they both ignore him.

“Auguste, our friendship means a lot to me,” Damen says honestly. “I would never want you to hate me over this-”

“Damen, I could never hate you,” Auguste says, surprised. “You’re one of my best friends.”

“You’re one of my best friends, too,” Damen says, voice choked. He pulls Auguste into a fierce hug, and Auguste hugs him back tightly.

“Was that a declaration of love?” Laurent asks, lounging on Damen’s bed with great interest. “Because it sounded like one.”

Again, they ignore him, pulling away and clapping each other on the back.

“I’m glad we’re alright again,” Damen says honestly.

“Me too,” Auguste says.

“If you leave me for my brother, family dinners will become very uncomfortable,” Laurent says mildly, and finally Auguste and Damen turn to him.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Laurent.” Auguste grins. 

“Yeah, we’d run away, never to return,” Damen says.

Laurent rolls his eyes and Auguste lets go of Damen, stepping closer to his brother, smacking his leg lightly. 

“Hey,” he says. “I wanted to apologize to you, too. I know I – meddle, sometimes.”

Laurent snorts. “Sometimes?”

“A lot of the time,” Auguste amends, grinning a little. 

Laurent shakes his head.

“I don’t forgive you,” he mumbles begrudgingly. 

“Come on,” Auguste whines. “You can’t stay mad at me, I tried to fix it!”

Laurent looks at him disbelievingly. “You meddled  _ more _ , how would that fix anything?”

“I was trying to un-meddle what I meddled in!” Auguste exclaims.

“Auguste, that makes  _ no  _ sense.”

Auguste sighs dramatically. “ _ Fine,”  _ he says, mock-resigned. “ _ Don’t _ forgive me. But then you’re forcing me to take necessary measures.”

“What?” Damen asks, confused, because Laurent glares at his brother.

“Don’t you dare-” he begins, but is interrupted when a loud huff is forced out of him when Auguste drapes himself across him, lying there, motionless. “Get off me, Auguste, you’re heavy!”

“No, I can’t,” Auguste says, voice muffled by the sheets. “You’ve wounded me. I’m dead.”

“I’ll wound you for real,” Laurent threatens, trying to push him off. It doesn’t work.

“No, you won’t,” Auguste says. “You’ll forgive me because I’m your brother, and you love me, and I won’t get off you until you do.”

Laurent glares at him and begins pinching his sides, laughing when Auguste squirms and yelps.

“Hey, that’s cheating!” he exclaims, desperately trying to get away from Laurent’s hands.

“Is it?” Laurent asks, smirking, continuing to poke and pinch at Auguste’s sides until he falls off the bed and onto the floor with a groan.

“Treason,” Auguste tells him from the floor. “You’ve committed treason.”

Laurent looks down at him over the edge of the bed. 

“Sure.” His smile softens, and he rolls his eyes fondly. “I forgive you.”

Auguste grins. “Thank you.”

“Now get out.” Laurent waves a hand at him. 

“Why?” Auguste asks, frowning.

Laurent cocks an eyebrow. “Because I want to make out with Damen and I really don’t think you want to be here for that.”

“Oh,  _ gross. _ ” Auguste shudders and stands up in a panicked flail. “ _ Disgusting,  _ Laurent. Goodbye.”

Laurent laughs as Auguste flees from the room.

“I definitely want to be here for that,” Damen says dumbly, because the moment Laurent said ‘I want to make out with Damen’ his brain stopped working.

Laurent grins and rolls his eyes. “Do you plan to kiss me from over there?”

Damen steps closer to the bed, and when he’s within arm’s reach, Laurent grabs him by the front of his chiton and pulls him closer.

*

“It’ll only be a month, Auguste.” Laurent rolls his eyes when Auguste hugs him  _ yet again _ .

“Only a month!” Auguste exclaims. “ _ Only _ a month? I’ll miss your birthday!”

“We’ll celebrate it when I get back,” Laurent tells him. “I promise.”

“Fine, fine,” Auguste says, finally letting him go. “Alright. But you better come back.”

“You know I will,” Laurent says softly.

Damen steps behind him, smiling. Nikandros, next to him, is not smiling. In fact, he looks like he’s dreading the trip. 

“Are you ready?” he asks, wrapping an arm around Laurent’s waist and pressing a kiss to his temple.

Laurent nods. “Yes.”

“I’m not,” Auguste says.

Laurent snorts. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

“Unlikely,” Auguste disagrees. 

Damen grins and pulls his friend into a hug, which Auguste returns reluctantly. 

“Fine,” he says. “Leave. But write if anything happens.”

“Oh, I will,” Nikandros says. “Believe me. I won’t be able to stand these two alone.”

“Oh, Kyros Nikandros, I thought you were looking forward to spending time with me,” Laurent says, voice sticky sweet. He leans closer to Nik, smiling up at him and fluttering his lashes mockingly.

“Damen,” Nik says, seriously. “Keep him away from me.”

Laurent bursts out laughing.

“He’ll terrorize the palace,” Nik complains, signaling wildly at Laurent.

“Don’t worry,” Laurent says, voice full of mirth. “I’ll make sure to keep a spot open to terrorize  _ you  _ specifically.”

And he gets into the carriage without another word.

Nikandros glares at Damen.

“If you have no Kyros of Delpha in a month,” he says threateningly. “It’ll be your fault.”

Damen laughs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This second part was an anonymous commission :D I hope you enjoyed reading it! More info and fics on my tumblr @mfingenius

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed reading!  
> Find me on tumblr @mfingenius :D


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